I'm still big on the hardbody style sandeels. In shallow estuaries when the fish aren't digging for the eels, or anytime the eels are up out of the sand I prefer that to any weighted pattern. I've converted over from epoxy to softex over ez-body for non-yellowing and durability (as well as ability to embed certain materials against the mesh.

I use the 911s Tiemco to get the longer body shape. This is a spinoff from a coho salmon candlefish pattern, a shorter hook shank would work fine for stripers but those ocean feeding salmon needed a little offset to the rear to hook consistently.